TYPE-V Nature Architects project
The TYPE-V Nature Architects project explores the new possibilities of a piece of cloth through prototypes that combine the latest design solutions by Nature Architects and the manufacturing system of A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE.
The collaborator Nature Architects, Inc. is a spin-off engineering design company that develops original, function-oriented design algorithms called DFM* (Direct Functional Modeling™) based on metamaterials*. This project adapts the framework derived from Nature Architects’ DFM—its unprecedented approach to product design—for A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE’s original technology “Steam Stretch” to further streamline the design process.
Compared with the conventional way of clothes-making, where a garment is made by cutting out separate parts that constitute the garment and sewing them together, the integration of metamaterials into the A-POC system allows for a variety of more complex pleating techniques that cannot be realized before. One of the prototypes developed from this project is an item of jacket that requires minimal sewing to finish—transforming from a flat fabric into a three-dimensional form in high-temperature steam.
To introduce its exploration that goes beyond clothes-making, this project presents prototypes—made from one piece of fabric—of not only a jacket and a dress but also other prototypes with the prospect in fields of furniture, lighting fixtures, or architecture—a glimpse into the aspirations of A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE and Nature Architects for the future.
*DFM (Direct Functional Modeling™) is a general term for a group of design algorithms for "determining the shape of a product by calculating backwards from the functions desired by the user." DFM utilizes 1) an algorithm to automatically generate a metamaterial unit structure, and 2) an algorithm to assign the extracted metamaterial unit structure to external shapes. It realizes the process of "reverse calculation of the shape".
*Metamaterials are designed materials that have properties other than those found in nature. The word is the combination of meta and material meaning “beyond matter.”
*A special exhibition "ISSEY MIYAKE / MILAN DESIGN FLAGSHIP STORES MAKING DESIGN: TYPE-V Nature Architects project” was held.
From Nature Architects
Working with A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE, together we have developed a fabric that can transform itself into a three-dimensional form solely by the application of heat. This fabric due to its properties lends itself to a jacket design that requires minimal sewing. The Steam Stretch by A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE is a technology that creates stretch fabrics with yarn that reacts to heat and contracts. Studying the properties of this transforming fabric, we calculated the rate and structures of the contraction and developed an algorithm that automatically generates weave patterns. This way, we can create original garments that transform themselves from fabrics by applying heat to them, like something brought back from the future. This project showed us a lot of potential that allows us to further explore this technology of three-dimensional transformation by heat, which goes beyond the conventions of clothes-making.
Nature Architects, Inc.
Nature Architects, Inc. is a spin-off engineering design company from the University of Tokyo that provides design drawings that realize functions beyond those of conventional products to various manufacturers using cutting-edge design technology that utilizes metamaterials.It creates competitive products and cooperatively supports the development of new markets and businesses in all manufacturing industries. Specifically, our strengths include weight reduction and cost reduction through component integration/material substitution, improved recyclability, and improved functions related to vibration, sound, deformation, and heat.
